Connotea
CiteULike
del.ico.us
BibSonomyAbstract
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 92, NO. A7,
PP. 7331-7340, 1987
doi:10.1029/JA092iA07p07331
A New Model of Cometary Ionospheres
Central Research Institute for Physics, Hungary Academy of Sciences, Budapest.
Space Physics Research Laboratory, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Space Physics Research Laboratory, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Space Physics Research Laboratory, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, San Diego.
Central Research Institute for Physics, Hungary Academy of Sciences, Budapest.
Space Research Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow.
Space Research Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow.
Space Research Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow.
Space Research Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow.
The coupled continuity, momentum, and energy equations were solved for ionospheric conditions appropriate for comet Halley at 1 AU. The numerical scheme used is such that any shock transition appears naturally in the solution and no a priori assumptions are necessary. Solutions were obtained for a number of different assumptions concerning electron heating rates, but all showed that the electron temperatures increase rapidly and significantly at a distance from the nucleus where collisional electron-neutral cooling becomes unimportant. This temperature increase is accompanied by a sharp increase in both the plasma pressure and its associated polarization electric field, causing the supersonic plasma flow to go subsonic. It is not clear at this time whether or not this sonic transition is accompanied by a shock.
Received 31 July 1986; accepted 5 March 1987; .
Citation: (1987), A New Model of Cometary Ionospheres, J. Geophys. Res., 92(A7), 7331–7340, doi:10.1029/JA092iA07p07331.
Cited By